(From THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)

WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is considering new rules for the design of automobiles, including possible requirements that cars be equipped with advanced-brake technology and "black boxes" that record crash data, the top U.S. highway-safety regulator said Thursday.

David Strickland, chief of the Transportation Department's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, made his remarks Thursday at a U.S. House hearing where he defended his agency's response to safety problems involving Toyota Motor Corp.

"We have been a very active agency" in responding to the Toyota recalls, Mr. Strickland told a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee, calling criticism of the agency "not valid at all."

He noted that the agency has opened multiple investigations into Toyota. "A lapdog doesn't open any investigations," he said, apparently referring to a criticism leveled by former NHTSA administrator Joan Claybrook, who also testified.

Mr. Strickland, a former congressional staffer who took the helm of NHTSA in January, said auto-safety regulators are performing a broad review of vehicle designs, including engine electronic systems, to determine whether design standards need to be updated. Under consideration are new rules to upgrade accelerator-pedal design and brakes.

In written testimony he submitted to the committee, Mr. Strickland said the administration is prepared to require that all cars be equipped with brake- override systems, which are designed to ensure that a car stops if both the gas and brake pedals are depressed.

"If our review indicates that requiring this feature could substantially reduce the most dangerous kinds of sudden acceleration, we will strongly consider a rulemaking to require it," he said.

Mr. Strickland also said the administration is studying whether to require that all vehicles be equipped with event-data recorders, also known as black boxes. Many U.S. vehicles already have the black boxes, while some also are equipped with brake-override systems.

The hearing was called to examine NHTSA's role in tracking defects, and was the fourth congressional hearing in recent weeks related to Toyota's recall of some eight million vehicles world-wide for sudden-acceleration problems.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the industry's largest trade group in Washington, has pledged to work with lawmakers on "common sense" approaches to improve safety, but hasn't taken a position on a mandate for brake-override systems, a spokesman said.

About 95% of car accidents are caused by driver error, while only about 2% are caused by vehicle problems, according to a 2005 NHTSA study. The report was cited at the hearing by Dave McCurdy, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

Mr. McCurdy also told lawmakers that NHTSA needs additional funding to collect more crash data, but added that the current U.S. regulatory system has resulted in a steady decrease in highway fatalities.

Ms. Claybrook, the former administrator of NHTSA who also is president emeritus of the consumer group Public Citizen, called in her remarks for tougher penalties on manufacturers that fail to recall defective vehicles, more rigorous safety standards and greater disclosure of the data auto makers submit in defect investigations. She also told the panel that NHTSA's funding should be doubled.

Separately, Daihatsu Motor Co., a Toyota subsidiary, said Thursday it will recall around 275,000 vehicles in Japan, the Associated Press reported. Toyota owns about 51 percent of the minicar maker.

A Daihatsu spokesman said the recall was due to faulty brake lamps and the risk of bolts loosening in the suspension system. He said there also was a risk of loose hoses in the fuel tank.

The company hasn't received any reports of accidents due to the defects, he said.

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  03-11-10 1930ET
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